Our All Time Top 10 [Mostly Screwed Up] Premier League Fines

Football is a worldwide game, and has always been based on a set of rules, whether set in stone such as three points for a win, or the rules based off sportsmanship, such as kicking the ball out of play if an injury has occurred.

Obvious rules include not fighting on the pitch, while those that are deemed more for respect reasons include not criticising the referee.

Nearly every one of these rules gets broken every season, and in turn, a hefty amount of fines are dished out in return. Here are the top ten fines:

Roberto Martinez

Slapped with a £10,000 fine recently for criticizing an officials performance, for giving Manchester United a penalty against his Wigan side, this punishment may be seen as rather harsh on the Spaniard, as replays judged United striker Welbeck to have dived to win the penalty. While the punishment seems to be a formality in terms with the Respect Campaign for officials, what Martinez said is nothing more than what is on many fans lips, in that United always get favourable decisions at Old Trafford.

Joey Barton

Footballs perennial bad boy made headlines again on the last day of the season, getting sent off in the all important match between Manchester City and QPR, add to that his incredible misconduct after his red card, kicking out at Aguero, and Kompany. QPR fined him six weeks worth of wages, and stripped him of the captaincy. On top of that though, the FA banned him for twelve games and added a £75,000 fine too. A massive overall fine, both in cash and pride, leaving this one of the biggest in the Premier League.

Carlos Tevez

While this incident is more of an internal issue, it still remains one of the biggest total fines. After Tevez decided to go perfect his golf game in Argentina for four months, Manchester City began to fine him of his £200,000 a week wages, with six weeks worth overall, totalling £1.2 million pounds in lost earnings. Including that huge fine, Tevez’s lack of loyalty ended up with him effectively fining himself, losing a total of £9.3 million in lost wages, fines, and voided bonuses.

Joey Barton

So bad I’m including him twice, most people are supposed to mature with age, their actions while younger deemed a simple case of naivety. However, on top of Barton’s recent episode of stupidity, he also committed another daft act in 2007. After a training ground altercation between him and Ousmane Dabo, the latter requiring medical attention, he was banned for 12 games by the FA, six of them suspended, along with a hefty £25,000 fine.

Rio Ferdinand

Talk about inserting foot into mouth, or perhaps it should be fingers onto keyboard. Rio decided to make reference to the racism case between John Terry and his brother Anton Ferdinand, using the term ‘Choc Ice’ on Twitter in regards to Ashley Cole giving evidence in favour of Terry. This simple Tweet resulted in him being landed with a £45,000 fine by the FA, and warned about his future conduct.

Andre Villas Boas

During his stint in charge of Chelsea, Andre Villas Boas criticised referee Chris Foy and his performance in the derby match between Chelsea and QPR. His comments wound up leading him to being charged £12,000 by the FA, after being found guilty of improper conduct.

Roy Keane

After publishing his book admitting that his tackle on Manchester City midfielder Alfie Haaland had been deliberate, the FA decided to throw the book (no pun intended) at Keane, punishing him for four matches, and what was then a record fine of £150,000. A huge amount, but nothing in comparison to what Keane probably earned for the book in the first place.

Arsene Wenger

Near the end of last season, with Arsenals win over AC Milan in the Champions League, yet still eliminated on aggregate, Arsene Wenger confronted referee Damir Skomina, immediately after the match, and then continued to rant about him in the following press conference. This did not go down well with UEFA, who subsequently banned the Frenchman for three Champions League games, and added a £33,000 fine on top for good measure.

John Terry

Despite him being cleared on criminal counts of using racial language against Anton Ferdinand, during the match between QPR and Chelsea, the FA held their own hearing on the matter and found him guilty of racial abuse. Not only was he banned for four games, but Terry also received a massive £220,000 fine for his troubles too.

The FA

Seems fitting that the FA receiving a fine, instead of administering one, is included. During the Euro 2012 match between England and Sweden, several dozen England fans attempted to invade the pitch during the 3-2 victory. This led to UEFA resorting to fining the FA, a small, but still relatively meaningful fine of £4000.

What do you think were the best/worst fines in football? Leave your comments below.